The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 46

“Everyone really, really worked so hard!”

“The stage was truly well done. You were amazing.”

“We all did so well!”

The 60 trainees exchanged compliments with each other, bowing politely as they greeted one another.

I also exchanged words of appreciation with guys I was somewhat acquainted with.

The 2nd team battle had many variables in various ways, but it seemed like we had created a good stage nonetheless.

We were the only team among the 8 groups to receive an encore singalong, so we had nothing left to say.

“It breaks my heart to ruin this harmonious atmosphere, but we still need to announce the results, don’t we?”

“Ah~.”

Everyone shuddered at the inevitable results announcement time.

Just like last time, the individual voting results would be revealed at the 2nd ranking announcement ceremony.

How much more are they planning to torment the kids?

‘More than that, the scale of benefits will probably be even bigger now.’

The probability was high that it wouldn’t end with simply giving out a few thousand votes.

As the number of people decreased, everyone became more sensitive to even minor ranking changes, so increasing the importance of benefits would be an effective way to inject more tension.

There’s no way KNet, who loves provocative production, wouldn’t exploit this.

I listened to MC Go Hyeon-ju’s announcement while maintaining appropriate tension.

“The top two teams that received the most choices from our national managers are… Teams 1 and 5. Congratulations!”

Fortunately, no major upsets occurred here.

Team 1, which Chae Ha-ru belonged to, made it to the top 2 along with us.

Looking at Team 5’s name displayed large on the screen, I gave my team members a calm remark.

“It’s fortunate that everyone’s efforts paid off. Thank you all for following this inadequate leader for a week despite the hardships.”

“What’s inadequate about you!”

“That’s right, without Brother Si-hwan, we wouldn’t have made it this far!”

“We really struggled through it together, so I’m relieved!”

“Arranging together and creating choreography was so much fun! I’d love to do it like this again next time~.”

The moment Ha Sang-hun mentioned it was fun, I felt some inexplicable sense of accomplishment.

Not that it was fun because we won the competition, but that the process itself was fun.

I was reminded once again of how precious this feeling was.

Seong-hwi, who had been quietly sitting alone, also wore a faint smile as he spoke softly.

“I was worried I might have just been a burden, but I’m relieved a good result came out.”

“Hey, what burden!”

“That’s right, Hwi, you quickly learned the choreography and taught it to us, so we could comfortably make modifications.”

“……”

Similarly quiet Ma Si-hyeok slowly extended his hand toward Seong-hwi.

Seong-hwi, who rarely got flustered, raised his eyebrows slightly.

“I also had fun and learned a lot.”

“Ah, um…… me too.”

The two shared what looked like an awkward handshake.

Then Seong-hwi grinned first and added a comment.

“But we’re the same age, weren’t we?”

“Ah, that’s right.”

“Then why are you speaking so stiffly with formal language?”

“Well, that’s—.”

Ma Si-hyeok’s eyes spun around at Seong-hwi’s sudden casual speech that came flying in.

Seeing that sight, Seong-hwi covered his mouth and burst into brief laughter.

“Hahaha! You must not be good at using casual speech easily. That was just a joke, so speak however you’re comfortable.”

“Ah, no. You can drop the formalities.”

When Ma Si-hyeok spoke in casual speech with his low voice, all the other team members made surprised expressions.

“Huh, what?”

“Si-hyeok just used casual speech, didn’t he?”

“I didn’t hear wrong, did I?”

“……Huh.”

The tables turned again, and now it was Seong-hwi’s turn to look dumbfounded.

But he soon smiled and left a short but intense remark.

“Yeah, Si-hyeok.”

“……”

Ma Si-hyeok, having used up all his courage for the day, just nodded his head.

Meanwhile, MC Go Hyeon-ju was gradually wrapping things up.

“You worked hard creating wonderful stages in such a short time. The next filming will probably take place in about a week, so please rest well and recover your strength during that time.”

“Yes!”

“Thank you!”

The trainees finally left the filming site with their tired bodies, relieved they could rest.

I was about to leave too when.

“Brother Si-hwan.”

I heard Seong-hwi calling me from a secluded corner.

From his meaningful gaze, it seemed certain he had something to say.

I never expected him to suddenly hold out his phone to me.

“Your number.”

“Huh?”

“Press in your number for me.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Seong-hwi’s tone, so confidently demanding my number.

“Usually don’t you give your number first for this kind of thing?”

“Well, you don’t really need me to give mine first. If you want it, I could give it first though—.”

“Never mind, I already got it.”

I called him and hung up, leaving my number in Seong-hwi’s phone.

When I returned his phone, Seong-hwi fidgeted and scratched his head for a moment.

“What’s wrong? You look like someone who needs to poop.”

“You’re actually more blunt than me in times like this.”

“I just said the impression that came to mind.”

“……Just, thank you.”

His quietly whispered voice reached my ears faintly.

Actually, I caught what he said right away, but I deliberately acted like I didn’t hear it.

“What? I didn’t hear you.”

“This guy is teasing someone.”

“I really didn’t hear it, but there goes your personality again.”

“Ugh……”

Seong-hwi bit his lips and turned his head slightly to the side.

Then he threw out words rapid-fire like he was rapping.

“I said thank you. I was worried I had just gotten hurt pointlessly and become a burden, but I’m grateful because it seems like we arranged the choreography pretty well even without me.”

“Yeah, now I can hear you properly.”

“Do you find it fun to tease me?”

“I didn’t know at first, but this is surprisingly fun. I think I understand why Kang Seon-woo talks like this.”

I saved Seong-hwi’s name in my phone contacts as [Crazy Narcissist] while wearing a satisfied smile.

“Still, Hwi, even with your leg being uncomfortable, you practiced alone watching the choreography videos we sent, so we were able to match up in such a short time. If you hadn’t made the effort, we definitely couldn’t have created a good stage.”

“Giving the disease and then properly giving the medicine. Did you bewitch the other juniors this way too?”

“I always tell people I never had any such intention.”

I really never had any intention of deliberately dragging kids around.

Somehow we ended up entangled this badly.

And right now at this moment, I had a premonition that somehow one more new face would be added.

“Anyway, Brother Si-hwan.”

Seong-hwi put his phone in his pocket and turned to the side as if he had said everything he wanted to say.

“It was fun enough to briefly remind me of old times. If there’s a chance, let’s work together again.”

“Yeah, good work. Even if we end up on different teams during the 3rd round, don’t go too wild on your own.”

“Haha, I’ll try to control my temper a bit more from now on.”

With that, Seong-hwi quickly left the filming site.

While I was briefly watching his retreating figure, someone roughly threw their arm around my shoulder.

“What are you staring at so wistfully, stage master Ryu Si-hwan?”

“What kind of novel nickname is that now?”

“Everyone backstage saw you taking off your eyepatch and fell backward. They said you were incredibly handsome.”

Kang Seon-woo laughed so widely his healthy teeth were completely visible.

During the last 1st group battle round, he had been in a bad mood after losing miserably to our team. This time there was no such comparison involved, so he seemed to be doing fairly well.

‘This guy’s quite the mood-dependent type too.’

“This program is already at the midpoint. Time really flies, right? So as a commemoration of surviving this far, how about all of us eating dinner together tonight?”

“Don’t attach weird logic to it and just say you want to eat together.”

“Aw, sometimes Si-hwan has no sense of romance.”

“It’s because I don’t know how far you’ll fly if I indulge your romance once or twice.”

“It’s okay, I think I’m pretty good at self-control!”

That’s a completely untrustworthy statement.

Chae Ha-ru, Yu Ha-woon, and Ma Si-hyeok gradually gathered behind Kang Seon-woo.

Even though no one called them, seeing them come naturally made me feel strange.

On top of that, Yu Ha-woon’s face, which usually had a cute and lively expression equipped like a default setting, looked somehow off to me.

Kang Seon-woo, following my gaze, exhaled softly and muttered.

“Looks like there’ll be a lot to talk about at dinner.”

* * *

I had been amazed by 〈ISL 2〉’s amenities every time, but the food provided today was worth mentioning once again.

Luxurious menus that brought to mind a hotel buffet.

This level of quality would put decent restaurants to shame.

Were they giving us special nourishment because the 2nd team battle had ended?

“Steak! Steak!”

“Don’t get excited, Ha-ru—.”

“Steak!”

It was a visual that made even someone who usually showed no change in expression scream.

Chae Ha-ru’s eyes properly rolled back at the sirloin steak being served by a chef grilling it directly over open flame.

To outsiders, he probably just looked like a guy going crazy over food, which would be quite funny.

But knowing that Chae Ha-ru grew up in difficult circumstances, I lost my smile and grabbed his shoulder.

“Can I really eat as much as I want? This isn’t a joke, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. There’s plenty left over, so take your time—.”

“Steak!”

Whatever, I give up.

I let Chae Ha-ru load up on meat to his heart’s content and balanced my diet by appropriately choosing vegetables and fruits.

After everyone filled their plates according to their tastes, the five of us gathered cozily around the table.

Even in front of the steaming pasta, Yu Ha-woon wore a somewhat serious expression.

If he stayed like that, he probably wouldn’t be able to eat and would just keep looking upset, so I should ask first.

“Ha-woon, did something happen?”

“Brother…… I don’t know if I did well or poorly.”

His large eyes turned toward me as if he’d been waiting for this.

Based on that statement and behavior, something definitely happened during the 2nd team battle.

Yu Ha-woon’s team’s stage looked fine on the surface.

However, from the initial formation, there were unstable landmines scattered everywhere, so I’d been somewhat worried.

“I learned so many things while preparing 〈Volt〉 with you all. And…… and most of all, I was so happy to be able to sing like this. I really wanted to survive the next ranking announcement and perform on stage with you all again, so I went in thinking I absolutely had to do well!”

“Ha-woon even volunteered to be the leader.”

“You were even the leader?”

When Chae Ha-ru nodded with his mouth full of steak, everyone looked at Yu Ha-woon with proud eyes.

I definitely felt that Yu Ha-woon had grown since the 〈Volt〉 stage.

He seemed to have grown taller too.

Most importantly, he had recovered the confidence that had hit rock bottom in the beginning and was walking around with his shoulders properly squared. I never imagined he’d take on the leader role himself.

But I was starting to get a sense of what had happened.

“I really thought I had to accomplish everything perfectly no matter what…… but it seems like the other team members didn’t have that mindset at all.”

After hearing the story, sure enough, once a troll, always a troll.

They wouldn’t yield any parts to protect their rankings, and it took over a day just to decide on the center and main vocal.

Even this was dizzying, but hearing that they threw tantrums during practice because they didn’t have much screen time and had no intention of even learning basic movements made me even angrier.

“—Since I was the leader, I had to somehow complete the stage with those people. So…… I really closed my eyes tight and yelled and scolded them so much……”

“You yelled and scolded them?”

“Ha-woon did?”

“Is that physically possible?”

“I, I can raise my voice loudly too!”

Yu Ha-woon squeezed his eyes shut and shouted back at Kang Seon-woo, who had delivered the final KO punch.

Everyone burst out laughing at the youngest’s rebellion.

“Anyway, I was so anxious until the stage ended. I kept worrying about what if I ended up looking like a weird person on the broadcast…… what if the other members only said bad things during their individual interviews……”

It would have been quite a burden for an 18-year-old boy.

He was already busy taking care of himself, and on top of that, trying to drag along selfish team members must have been incredibly difficult.

I chewed a grape and threw out a brief comment.

“There’s nothing we can do but check through the broadcast.”